The Bezanozano are believed to be one of the earliest Malagasy ethnic groups

Ethnic groups of Madagascar

The number of ethnic groups of Madagascar has long been a point of contention and debate. The island of Madagascar is predominantly populated by people broadly classified as belonging to the broader Malagasy ethnic identity...

 to establish themselves in Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

, where they inhabit an inland area between the Betsimisaraka

Betsimisaraka

The Betsimisaraka make up approximately fifteen percent of the Malagasy people and are the second largest ethnic group in Madagascar after the Merina....

 lowlands and the Merina highlands. Their name means "those of many small plaits" in reference to their traditional hairstyle, and like the Merina they practice famadihana

Famadihana

Famadihana is a funerary tradition of the Malagasy people in Madagascar. Known as the turning of the bones, people bring forth the bodies of their ancestors from the family crypts and rewrap them in fresh cloth, then dance with the corpses around the tomb to live music.The Famadihana custom...

(the reburial ceremony).

The Bezanozano speak a dialect of the Malagasy language

Malagasy language

Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar, a member of the Austronesian family of languages. Most people in Madagascar speak it as a first language as do some people of Malagasy descent elsewhere.-History:...

, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group

Malayo-Polynesian languages

The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia...

 derived from the Barito languages

Barito languages

The Barito languages are a score of Dayak languages of Borneo, and most famously Malagasy, the national language of Madagascar. They are named after the Barito River....

, spoken in southern Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

.